Chapter 1194 - Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms

The Heretic Blade's power compressed even further as Liu Wuxie's true essence poured from his desolate world like a tidal wave. He had focused every drop of his true essence into this strike, and the strike created a vacuum of spiritual energy around him.

He felt as though he had stepped into a strange world where time froze, leaving everything beyond a few meters utterly still. Even the laws of space and the inscriptions of heaven and earth recoiled from his strike, refusing to face the Heaven-Severing Strike head-on.

The lingering shadow of the immortal art within it was unfathomable, powerful enough to shake the heart and soul.

Just before the Heretic Blade touched the ground, Liu Wuxie drew back his true essence to avoid causing a commotion. Even so, when the blade fell, it unleashed a peerless impact that split the mountain path into two, carving a long gorge down its center.

The ground sank, stones crumbled into dust, and nearby trees disintegrated into powder.

"I caused this?" Liu Wuxie muttered in disbelief as he stared at the devastation. If he had not withdrawn his true essence at the last moment, the destruction would have been far worse.

"The Heaven-Severing Strike is no weaker than the attack of a cultivator at the fourth-level Origin Conversion Realm. I'll save it as a trump card," he murmured.

Even so, he had underestimated the strike's power. Once his cultivation had advanced enough, he would eventually be able to fuse the shadow of the immortal art deeper into the technique, unleashing even greater force.

The thought alone made him wary of it. The Heaven-Severing Strike was far too terrifying to practice repeatedly, not to mention the unimaginable drain it placed on his true essence.

Instead, Liu Wuxie shifted his focus to the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms, which were better suited to the wide ground of the rear mountain. The courtyard back at his residence had been too small.

He moved like a soaring dragon; his steps coiled like a serpent; his fists roared like a tiger. Every form mirrored the majesty of a divine dragon. The first three forms flowed with growing smoothness, but he lacked an actual battle to temper them.

......

Mad Dog searched half the rear mountain before finally locating Liu Wuxie in its depths, guided by the dragon roars that erupted each time Liu Wuxie executed the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms.

Mad Dog himself had cultivated the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms, and he recognized them instantly. However, the scene before him struck him with disbelief. Liu Wuxie was practicing with only half of his true essence, and he was growing more proficient as time went on.

If he unleashed his full strength, everything within the area would vanish without a trace.

Even so, the power Liu Wuxie displayed was overwhelming. Mad Dog's own mastery of the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms was laughable in comparison.

The deduction of the Heavenly Dao Book had refined Liu Wuxie's technique far beyond what ordinary disciples of the sect could achieve.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Sensing danger, Liu Wuxie twisted mid-air, spiraled down, and landed lightly to see a burly man approaching from several dozen meters away.

The man carried a broadsword on his shoulder, and murderous intent surged from him like a raging storm.

"That didn't take long," Liu Wuxie murmured as his feet touched the earth.

After crippling Tie Niu two days ago, he predicted that more trouble would come knocking. Xu Guang's vengeful nature guaranteed it, and he sent someone stronger than Tie Niu. Though both were at the first-level Origin Conversion Realm, Liu Wuxie immediately sensed that this man's aura was far more oppressive.

Xu Guang was only an outer sect deacon, and his reach extended only to cultivators of the lower Origin Conversion Realm. Those at higher levels would never heed him, nor would they place an outer sect deacon in their eyes.

"You're Liu Wuxie?" the burly man asked, though Xu Guang had already described him in detail.

"I am," Liu Wuxie replied with a nod. If this man recognized him, he had clearly come prepared.

"Good. Someone paid me for your arms. Will you do it yourself, or shall I rip them off?" Mad Dog said coldly, his murderous intent erupting like a wild beast unleashed.

Liu Wuxie studied him calmly. This man's killing aura was not ordinary—countless life-and-death battles had forged it.

"Xu Guang sent you?" Liu Wuxie asked, a faint smile curling his lips as he waved his hand to brush aside the suffocating intent.

For others, such pressure would have been unbearable. To Liu Wuxie, it was child's play.

Mad Dog narrowed his eyes. He hadn't expected Liu Wuxie to dismiss his aura so easily. Still, his surprise was fleeting. In his eyes, a cultivator of the Heaven Profound Realm could never threaten him.

Clearly, Xu Guang had hidden what happened to Tie Niu, afraid that Mad Dog would refuse the task.

"In that case, let's stop wasting time. Eat this!" Mad Dog roared, striking first.

Veterans could glean much from a glance, and Mad Dog was no exception. He had fought hundreds of battles, but the faint blood mist he detected within Liu Wuxie's eyes made his heart tremble. This youth radiated a presence even more terrifying than abyssal devils or ancient beasts.

His broadsword strike was blindingly fast. Few in the outer sect could match him in speed or ferocity.

However, Liu Wuxie did not falter. He executed the Divine Dragon Phantom, now seamlessly integrated into the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms. His figure blurred as he shifted sideways, dodging the blade.

The broadsword crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, sending a gale sweeping across the clearing. Yet with so many disciples training in the rear mountain, most took the commotion for another training clash and paid it no mind.

Instead of counterattacking, Liu Wuxie let Mad Dog unleash a storm of strikes. He had just completed his breakthrough, and real combat offered the best way to consolidate his cultivation.

He flowed like a flood dragon, slipping through every swing.

Mad Dog snarled in frustration. Despite the vast gap between the first-level Origin Conversion Realm and the Heaven Profound Realm, Liu Wuxie's speed almost matched his own.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more unsettled Mad Dog became.

He had accepted this job carelessly, thinking Liu Wuxie was just another arrogant new disciple. However, the youth ended up being a bone too hard to chew.

Roaring, he accelerated his attacks. Yet each time his pace increased, Liu Wuxie matched him effortlessly, his mastery of the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms growing sharper with every move.

"You've attacked enough. Now it's my turn," Liu Wuxie declared.

He soared into the sky, his figure lifted by true essence. Though cultivators at the Heaven Profound Realm were incapable of flight, with exquisite control, they could suspend themselves briefly.

Few dared attempt it due to the immense exhaustion it required.

"Dragon Subduing Tiger!" Liu Wuxie executed the first form. His fist roared like a dragon and tiger, unleashing a gust of overwhelming power that poured downward.

Mad Dog's eyes widened. He had practiced the first form as well, but the force he produced was nothing compared to this. Alarmed, he abandoned his broadsword and retaliated with his own Dragon Subduing Tiger, using it defensively.

The two clashed mid-air like dragons intertwining, their blurred figures colliding fist against fist.

Liu Wuxie could have ended the fight already. But instead, he used Mad Dog as a whetstone to temper himself. The man was a perfect opponent—not too weak, not too strong.

They appeared evenly matched, but Liu Wuxie's strikes carried a ferocity that shook the heavens. His blows radiated the aura of an ancient dragon, crashing down to suppress Mad Dog's Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms.

"Impossible! How can a new disciple master the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms to this level?!" Mad Dog shouted, panic twisting his features. He had spent years polishing the technique, yet Liu Wuxie had surpassed him within mere days of joining the sect.

Unless Liu Wuxie had practiced for decades, this level of mastery should have been impossible.

"You're nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well. You don't even realize they're using you," Liu Wuxie sneered, his voice dripping with scorn.

He abruptly accelerated, shifting into the second form—Dragon Slither. His figure twisted at impossible angles, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Mad Dog.

The man stiffened in shock. He had never trained in the second form, and the lapse left him completely unprepared.

In the Heavenly Dragon Sect, even true disciples rarely practiced more than five forms. Most disciples stopped at one or two. Mad Dog had only mastered the first and third, enough to spread his reputation.

However, Liu Wuxie's intent was clear—he would unleash all three forms in succession, testing their combined might. Against a cultivator at the first-level Origin Conversion Realm, he had no desire to waste the Heaven-Severing Strike, and he reserved the Frost Mythical Art for ambush, not direct combat.

Mad Dog roared in desperation, executing the third form—Dragon Roaming, which focused entirely on speed. The next instant, his eyes widened in horror.

Liu Wuxie unleashed all three forms simultaneously, like a resounding slap across his face.

Mad Dog froze as terror seized him. He could not fathom how anyone's true essence could sustain three forms at once.